Pyre for the Ancestral Mountain
by Bombing
Summary: Aiona has not been seen for millenniums and Gerald Darmoa is nearly succeeding in wiping out anything that has a beating heart. Nova's hope is to locate Aiona and has turned to Kyle to use the memories of Kaiser to find her. So Kyle does. The problem? He may have jumped a bit too far back and ended up meeting the first Kaiser, who isn't quite heroic as everyone thought he'd be.
1. Chapter 1

**Pyre for the Ancestral Mountain**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Kyle doesn't mediate. Kyle is Kaiser and the last time he checked Kaisers don't meditate. Kaisers are heroes! They're epic warriors who bravely charge into battles and slash down enemies with the freakishly awesome Kaiserium for the safety of Nova! Grand Defender Savior of Nova – man what a badass title.

Well that's what he used to think. After becoming Kaiser, Kyle gets that, yeah, the spiritual part is as important as the physical part and responsibility is a heavy thing. Being Kaiser's is still super cool: everyone's giving him respect and little kids look up to them even though he's still a kid himself. But he's fought a lot of battles, undergone plenty of adventures in both Grandis and Maple World, and now?

Now he knows that sometimes going into war and getting slashed up isn't always the way to winning. Now he knows that information is as important as manpower and, to his once previous, grudging reluctance, is what changes the tides. Now he knows what it means to be Kaiser; not just the strongest guy in Nova, but also the guy who has to take care of Nova like it's his kid. Well, maybe not kid since he's not that old to have one. Maybe mom. Something super close and personal like that.

Now he can look in the past and can say that he matured a bit.

Though, growing up a bit or not, being Kaiser is still really, _really _freaking awesome and Kyle can appreciate being the only Novan who has wings twice as big as anyone else's. And _fly_.

But still, as the warrior sits cross legged in front of the shrine of Saber, the ceiling high windows inspiring awe and hope, he feels a bit out of place under the hush of the sanctuary. He's been sitting for a long time to the point that blood isn't circulating in his legs properly. The chosen warrior is ready to throw his hands in the air and call it a day – the spirits won't come out from the dead and grant him enlightenment because of reasons Saber knows what. Doesn't matter if the previous Kaiser visits him in his dreams and during the harshest points in battle – it's the time of day when the moons have shifted in an angle that means sleep time for everybody from High Flora to Nova, and who knows, maybe the previous Kaiser is asleep too.

But…he shouldn't. He can't.

Kyle exhales forcibly, trying to relax. It's hard to in the sanctuary; never liked hanging out in these grand white and golden halls even when the Heliseum Force was together. The place always gives him the creeps. The Kaiser statues…they always put one up whenever the current Kaiser falls. They didn't make a statue for the previous Kaiser because of the war, but Kyle feels like all of their spirits are here through those statues. Eyes watching him, judging him – can the current Kaiser watch despair devour his world and still raise the torch, even if he believes nobody's following anymore?

_Ugh, what are you thinking? _Why _are you even thinking? We're running out of time so get on with it!_ Kyle thinks angrily, slapping his cheeks with his hands. If the swordsman met the previous Kaiser multiple times then he can do it again.

On top of the shrine the candles are spilling the wax over their golden supports, their tiny flames and the moonlight illuminating the form of the humongous dragon statue staring down Kyle.

Eyes closed and back straight, Kyle tries again to reconnect the fallen.

* * *

"You wanted to see me?"

Kyle opens his eyes - then instantly realizes he isn't opening his real eyes.

A see through man wearing Kaiser's armor and sword stands before him in a world of shadows and hazy, indistinct shapes that bend with light that isn't there. Clouds float by his feet like he's standing at the edge of Grandis, but there are no edges here. Just miles of darkness.

Kyle doesn't know what this world really is since if it was in his own mind his mind should look so much more bright and colorful than this. Only that he once asked Fenelle about it and that she has no idea either.

But hey, the previous Kaiser is here and that means Kyle actually got that mediating-and-reconnecting-with-the-spirits thing right. He wants to whoop for succeeding, but it might snap him back into consciousness again and all of his hard work would be for naught. So he pumps his fist and yells a silent cheer.

The previous Kaiser's spirit patiently watches Kyle having his inner party, and that's enough to sober Kyle up. Back to business.

"Yeah, first I want to say thanks for helping me learn the hyper skills," says Kyle stepping forward. "And as cool it would be to hang out, I need help. The war is getting worse."

Frowning, the man correctly guesses, "Gerald Darmoa."

Nodding, Kyle explains, "We've taken back Heliseum. Magnus is out of the way for now, but now that we moved further up north we got to see the _real _damage. Specters aren't worth paying attention to anymore."

Because the corrupted Transcendent of Life is making good use of his powers and creating undead armies, using the same bodies of the soldiers who fought against the prince of darkness into mindless puppets. Darmoa doesn't know how to use Chronica's powers as well as the Transcendent of Time does, but he's trying and he's learning. Kyle remembers: at the northern front, some of the bodies look less…disgusting. Less broken and they're much stronger.

Gerald Darmoa is reversing the time of decay upon the undead soldiers.

Kyle doesn't need to say anything more. The previous Kaiser now knows, the stoic man breaking composure to sigh a world weary sigh. Kyle is receiving passing thoughts and emotions full of expected disappointment and well restrained rage.

The cyan haired swordsman sympathizes. It's a real freaking pain when even the dead gets tired of the bullshit the living has to deal without them.

After a pregnant pause, Traian responds, "You're here for Aiona."

Kyle nods again, only for the hope to drop below him when the thoughts he receives are sad and bleak like a feast with empty dishes.

"Wait, _you _don't know where she is?!"

"I was born before the war started. If Aiona was around during my lifetime, no one would be in this situation right now," the man answers. Groaning, Kyle grabs his horns and rubs the, feeling a headache is coming on.

"So that's it? There's no way to find Aiona at all?" the blue haired boy throws his hands in the air, crimson wings following the gesture. "This _sucks. _Me and Angelic Buster went hopping to another world to find a Transcendent _because_ we couldn't find one who could help us in _our _own dimension." Kyle sits down, back slumping, grumbling, "At least they found their missing Transcendent. All we got is 'only the brightest lights can reach Aiona' and what's the use in that?"

Traian hums thoughtfully. Then, "I may not know…but the ones before me should."

Kyle perks up. The previous Kaiser continues. "He who carries the emblem of Kaiser can access the powers and memories of every Kaiser that ever existed. If you concentrate enough, you can meet a Kaiser before me and inquire about Aiona's location."

Blazing blue eyes light up, the fire back and determined to burn. With a grin, Kyle shouts, "Awesome! Now how do I do that?"

"The same way you met me."

The boy tilts his head, frowning. "Meditation within meditation?"

The ghost confirms," Yes. I wouldn't worry too much about your capability since you have proven to have more aptitude than I had when I was Kaiser." Then the man lowers his voice, outward indifference tossed aside for solemnity. "However, you must be careful. It's one thing to reach connection with the Kaiser before you, but reaching further Kaisers also takes your mind further away from your body."

Kyle fidgets in place. "What'll happen if I mess up? Will I screw up the Kaiser Emblem or…"

Traian looks to the side. "I do not know. The abilities of Kaiser are powerful and many…but there are two sides to fire. There are secrets that I could not uncover when I was alive."

The cyan haired swordsman lowers his eyebrows, remembering one of the many adages of Grandis thanks to the head priestess. "'Two sides to fire.' Fenelle always repeats that but I never really got it."

Thinking of the elderly high priestess brings a smile to both Traian and Kyle. A mother to one, a grandmother to the other.

Traian says, "One day you'll understand."

Already on the ground, Kyle crosses his legs and assumes the meditation position again. "Well, there's no point wondering anymore about it." He thinks of Piston and Edea who tirelessly leads the troops to the front lines, schooling their features while their hands tremble of the outcomes of the battles. He thinks of Cartalion and Fenelle who encourage him as both Kaiser and the boy underneath the heavy crimson armor. He thinks of Tear who stays hidden within the safety of the Pantheon, of Angelic Buster who fearlessly calls up the power of the gods to plow down the front ranks of the Specters and later sings to boost everyone's morale.

He thinks of Velderoth who ran away because he gave into despair and Magnus who rejoiced in it.

Eyes resolute, Kyle whispers, "If I don't get any answers, Nova's doomed and we're all screwed over anyway. Might as well try this out." Looking up to the spirit, he asks," Do you know which Kaiser might know where Aiona is? I saw six statues besides Saber – it's bound to be one of them."

Traian chuckles humorlessly. "Grandis is an old world, Kaiser. The statues you see in the sanctuary are not all of the Kaisers that have graced Nova."

"Uh…okay, if not six Kaisers, then how many Kaisers do you think there are? If I get the number, maybe I can guess and…I don't know, wing it?" Kyle tousles the back of his hair, chuckling, "Man, if I knew this was going to happen at least I'd ask Fenelle to give me a quick history review, am I right?"

When no answer bounces back, Kyle sees that the previous Kaiser isn't here anymore. Left alone in this strange world of limbo, sprit realm, in his own mind – whatever it is – Kyle focuses his inner energy again. Alright, so he can't focus on some vague number but the blue haired Novan doubts he's that good at jumping to a specific generation anyway. It was tough enough to meet one Kaiser before so what's the chances of meeting the hundredth or thousandth Kaiser? How many Kaisers are there anyway?

_Whatever. I'll just focus on being really far back. And if that doesn't work I'll just try again_.

* * *

Whenever Kyle tries to meet the spirit of the previous Kaiser through sheer concentration or desperation, Kyle only knows that he does it after he hears Traian's voice awakening him up in a higher reality. He keeps his mind eyes shut, waiting and waiting for a new voice to give him the implication that he's actually done this Kaiser thing right and not fall off the edge into the abyss of his own unconscious.

That's why Kyle doesn't think when he automatically ducks, a wind over his head, and then wonder what in the Nova's name is going on. When he opens his eyes, there isn't an enemy. But there's light everywhere, completely contrasting the place he was before that he squints. The air is hot and thick, the humidity here more insane than Minar Forest's during summer, as if he's outside, and when his eyes adjust to the lighting Kyle sees that he _is _outside. He's in the middle of a tall blue grass field that looks like it could stretch for miles until he sees the silhouette of what looks like a city in the distance under Grandis's seven moons. Surrounding the grass fields like a natural fence are trees – forests that look like tiny shrubs from where the young Novan stands.

Did he wake up? Is he back in the real world? How in the blazes did he get outside?

"That's because you're not outside. You're in _my_ territory."

It's a husky deep voice and it jolts Kyle from his thoughts. The cyan haired warrior turns to the direction the sound only to see nothing. Puzzled, Kyle takes a few cautious steps forward, the grass crunching underneath his feet, yelping when an alert grobbler hisses at him and scatters away. Or at least it looks like an alert grobbler, but Kyle doesn't remember them having fangs that large or being that fat, less alone up to his knee height. Kylan would love to study this guy and see if it's an Alert or a Sleepy.

"Alert and sleepy? So grobblers have categories to tell them apart," says the voice though it seems to be talking more to itself than to Kyle. "The grobbler that ran off is practically a newborn. During my generation, a fully grown grobbler was three times taller the height of a dracanic."

"Where are you?" Kyle asks the invisible being because no matter how many times he turns his head, trying to catch the tail of a voice that keeps dashing back in the shadows, he can't find the owner of the voice.

"If you can't sense auras then it seems not only the monsters but also the Kaisers are declining in capability down the line of evolution. No wonder the Kaisers are dying so quickly nowadays. How three could pass within a lifetime was a mystery until I saw you."

Pissed, Kyle retorts, "How about you stop being a coward and actually come out? I _am _sensing your aura and it's _everywhere_."

The young swordsman wasn't sure before because the aura was so overpowering that he initially mistaken it as the energy of the realm. But it's too dark and primal, the trickling sensation one feels when lost inside a dragon's cave, groping the walls to find an escape but can't because it's a never-ending labyrinth of dank stones and charred skulls. Doesn't matter that it looks like he's outside – Kyle now knows that this is all a memory.

"At least you got that part correct."

And this Kaiser doesn't give Kyle a chance to pass his thoughts and memories over, less alone formulate any; this Kaiser just takes it, preying on the Novan's train of thought and biting the ankles. It's freaking invasive, but it is a convenient way for the man to get all of his memories –

Kyle blinks and resumes struggling again, this time much more harder. "Get out!" Those weren't his thoughts, this guy is inserting them in like spilling oil into a river; two things that shouldn't be together yet mixing, but if this dracanic doesn't leave Kyle's mind alone then the young Novan is going to set the oil on fire.

"I'm making this faster. What is it that the…" an image of the wingless dracanics in another dimension flashes in Kyle's mind. People with no tails and wings and can kick some serious monster ass if they want to. "Maplings say? 'Chill out?'"

Kyle barks a laugh despite irritated. "Wow, don't say that ever again." It's not that this Kaiser sounds old – he sounds youthful enough not to sound like a cranky old man. But the way the guy carries himself through his voice twists the slang and kills it. Like a foreigner forcing it in his strange accent.

A flicker in the air and Kyle rolls to the side, seeing an armored leg stomping down where he was a second ago. The boy looks up and sees the man: blood red armor with golden edges and linings, similar to the traditional Kaiser armor except a bit less detailed and less power gems embedded. Black hair with unrealistically bright purple eyes because eyes can't glow naturally like that without magic turned on a hundred percent. Large dark wings to the point of being black like the man's hair, but some of the lighter, more colored scales imply they used to be scarlet at one point. But what catches Kyle's attention are the two sets of horns: the first set slightly above the temples in sharp points, the second set on the back of the head are long, dark curved horns.

So many rings. This guy was over a thousand years old before he kicked the bucket.

Nobody lives up to a thousand these days.

"You're all being killed off before your prime." Before Kyle can react, the man grabs the back of his shirt color, holding him up like a dragon carries a wyrmling by the neck. The Novan uses this moment to rake through the man's memories –

Kyle lets out a yelp when he's being shaken up and down, the dark haired man nonchalantly speaks, "No one goes through my mind, current possessor or not."

"You did it to me first!" the swordsman cries indignantly, the reach for connection breaks with his focus. "And I just wanted to know your name!"

"Kaiser."

"Well yeah, but I'm Kaiser too." The younger dracanic rolls his eyes. "The current Kaiser. Your _real_ name."

Then he's lifted to meet eye level to the man, whose pupils are apparently slits now that Kyle is close enough to see them. "Saber Kaiser. My name, your title, _Kyle_."

Kyle doesn't know what surprises him more. What the guy just said or the fact that the young warrior almost didn't recognize hearing his own name.

Kyle cringes as he feels a foreign presence in his mind like a light claw poking in his brain and making his head airy and foggy. Then he sees it. An image being pulled from his memories and slammed against his mind's eye like a pile of bricks: the humongous, black dragon statue of Saber behind the shrine in the sanctuary.

Incredulous, the warrior gawks. "No way." Saber Kaiser. That _can't_ be.

"Saber's not a dracanic!" he says boldly to those indifferent purple eyes, but his confidence in that statement begins to waver the longer he's being held up. According to the legends, Saber Kaiser was a kind and generous dragon god who watched over Nova. Saber bestowed the Kaiser's Emblem to the mortals so that the chosen one would protect Nova from warring nations when the dragon god ascends to the stars.

_"He who carried the emblem would have his wings turn red to symbolize the blood of his sacrifice to his people and the fire that will light their path in the dark,"_ tones a solemn Fenelle to a younger Kyle long ago.

The final form, the Golden-Armored Dragon Saber, is supposed to hold up to the legend. Or the legend iss supposed to hold up the meaning behind the final form. Either way, Saber's supposed to be an incredibly awesome, inspiring, heroic dragon god and Kyle can't see how this guy can be Saber. Not at all.

The hand drops him and his face plants against the ground unceremoniously, Kyle rubbing his nose as he sees the man's long crimson tail, the man's wings turned against him. The man parts through the tall grass towards the direction of the distant city. When the Novan picks himself up to catch up the man, he vanishes in thin air though his aura still permeates this strange, uniquely detailed world.

"Argh, wait!" shouts Kyle. "I need your help!" No response. "At least tell me if you know where Aiona is?" Again, all that meets Kyle is silence.

Alright, the guy isn't going to willingly help him out. Who knows, he may be one of those weird teachers that he's seen in Maple World's movies, in which the mentor makes the student do everything seemingly useless and it pisses the student off to no end until it turns out that the whole thing is actually a teaching program and the student learns some valuable lessons. Maybe.

Except the guy really looked like he'd care less about the end of the world. Those cold purple eyes. Eyes of a father dragon that gobbles up his own children if they don't run away fast enough.

Kyle sits down and crosses his legs. He has no time for any of this and he doesn't have the slightest idea of how much power he has in this realm.

He relaxes. It's cool. He can just meet another spirit connected to the Kaiser's Emblem. He doesn't need that jerk. The boy breathes in.

Yup, it's no big deal.

* * *

It's a big fat freaking deal after all.

He can't get out of here. He tried, he ruminated, he anguished, and it doesn't make any sense. It worked twice before, but the third time is zilch. Not getting anything.

Kyle swears it's all the energy – it's so thick, like a barrier of molasses or something wet and slippery _but not budging at all_. Everything is so distracting, from the sweet wet tropical scent in the air to the smallest bugs, even if the smallest bugs are a size of Kyle's palm and really not that small at all. At least the sanctuary was made for quiet.

He's stuck here. He's stuck here for Sa – for Nova knows how long and it might be hours or even days flying by in real time.

The Novan has met the path where the tall grass recedes to dirt, the beginning of the stretching road that continues on to a large street crowded with people and activity. Literally, every space Kyle sees is either covered by a person or a booth stall; lines of colorful tents and huge canopies sit on both sides of the road, filled with foods, fabrics, and other goods. In the distance are humble houses – nothing fancy like the white stoned architecture that's common today, but more similar to the brick buildings and straw roofed huts he's seen in the poorer areas back in Maple World. But the town doesn't give a sense that it's poor. Everyone just has it.

But there's something off. Something's missing. Kyle tries not to dwell into it too much. Kaiser on a mission here.

-Oh what in the blazes, if something's off then he _needs _to find out what the blazes it is. Dragon instincts are there for a freaking reason. The Novan tries to place where the internal pull is coming from, looks around him and understands why.

The people. Their faces are blurry. Some people's faces are more detailed than others, like the shopkeepers and a few passing strangers. But everyone else, like the kid running by eating a meat skewer – it's like Kyle is seeing them behind a fogged up wall of glass. But there's no fogged up wall of glass and just one extremely creeped out Novan.

And the conversations – he notices they're all similar subjects. The so-called current events that they're talking about are mostly wars and territories. Kings and royal gossip. Saber Kaiser, King of Heliseum.

Saber Kaiser. _Holy shit._

Disbelief surges. It confirms it. If this is a memory, this went around in a circle a thousand times and slapped confirmation in the face. Kyle didn't want to think that jerk was the first Kaiser, less alone someone revered as a _god _back in the real world, almost like a mythological being with all the associated exaggerated, epic legends that come with the package. Holy shit isn't enough to cover this

"'The real world' doesn't matter. My domain is everywhere."

Every single person besides Kyle stops whatever they're going – the woman who's carrying a tall stack of pots, the large belly merchant with the pouches of coins on his waist, a vagabond with two swords on his back– they all just stop. They all turn to Kyle and go to their knees, the market a sea of bowing people.

The young swordsman watches in dumb amazement.

His head swivels around to see Saber again, the man is inspecting his fingers, looking bored out of his mind. Wow, his nails are long, the guy needs to get a nail clipper -

The swordsman hops back in time for the nails to miss them, the hand poised as a claw. Kyle is close enough to see that the nails are curved to sharp points and sees a chip on his own armor a second later. So that's what the long fingernails are for.

"Look, I don't have time for games," Kyle throws in quickly before Saber does anything more. This guy is clearly playing with him, dicking around like this. "You're Saber. You're the beginning of all Kaisers and lived, what, thousands or hundred thousands or bazillion thousands –" The Novan scowls at the unimpressed purple eyes – "Sorry that I don't know my history. The thing is that you of all people should know where Aiona is and it would really help if you can tell me."

And even if Aiona isn't where she used to be it's at least a clue and someone smarter than Kyle can figure out the mystery from there.

He pauses. "That and how I can get out of here. Seriously, what in the blazes is up with this place?"

The older dracanic stares at Kyle for good measure, long enough for the Novan to feel like he's being sized up again. Yup, he's being sized up. He's not being taken seriously at all and how can he be when he's just a kid? It doesn't matter if he possess the Kaiser Emblem; thousands and thousands before him did, all tedious reincarnations and lives, either full or cut short because of the universe's frivolous whims that nonexistence seems to be the better choice after all. In this pathetic world where life is meaningless, Gerald Darmoa probably had the right idea, insane Transcendent or not. Force the inevitable. Bring life to its perfect conclusion by ending it because what's life if it's not to die? What was Kyle thinking, trying to find another Kaiser for help when he can't even help himself or anyone else –

"THAT'S A LIE!" Kyle yells, pounding his head again. "STOP GETTING INSIDE MY MIND!"

Saber's hand pulls out from his thoughts and Kyle pants from the effort, hands reaching up to rub his horns. This is too confusing for his own good and no one wrote on the Kaiser Manual that he needed to a mental blueprint with several floors with a thousand installed booby traps to protect himself from a past life. But if conversing with Saber is going to psychic mind rape, then well shit, Kyle's going to have to figure this out.

Saber disappears in thin air again. He's not the only one, the kneeling people have disappeared along with him, leaving Kyle alone in a long, empty market street. The sheer openness is eerie and Kyle tries not to let it bug him though his tail fidgets nervously left and right.

Exasperated, the boy yells, "What are you doing? Don't you care what's going on out there? We've got a messed up Transcendent that's trying to take down the whole world with him and you're – you're _agreeing with him?!"_

Any other day it's knights dying at the front lines, families torn apart, best friends splitting and taking sides for a useless war that's killing everyone and solving nothing. It _can't _all be for nothing. After Kyle's effort to meet this douchebag, he doesn't even give the courtesy to kick Kyle out. The swordsman can't even try again with a Kaiser that does care.

Frustrated, Kyle kicks at the ground but no puff of dust comes forth. Then he shouts at the sky for one last time. "SOME EPIC HERO GOD YOU ARE!" Stupid epic hero god who likes to screw minds for kicks.

Then the feeling that someone's in his mind returns again like a vengeance, the force dipping in and pulling out an image before Kyle can stop it: downtown Heliseum. Shadow merchants smuggling goods and passing secrets. Edea and Piston directing the troops and bent over a transported strategy board. An entire city kept within high walls, white bridges that reach each sector of the capital until the last stretch winds around a lone mountain where the overseeing castle stands.

Shaking his head, Kyle dismisses the image and the world replaces it. Gone are the walls, the open dark sky of space expands above him and around him. Gone are the white tiles below his feet, back to the dusty old ground.

But the lone mountain is there. And on the top, a castle that looks sparkling new compared to what Kyle is used to.

With nothing better to do, Kyle makes his trip towards Heliseum Citadel.

* * *

Kyle can close his eyes, fold his wings, and keep his tail low between his legs and still be able to walk straight to the citadel without tripping over himself. Because of Edea and a lack of messengers during the time, Kyle had to dash back and forth from downtown to the front lines, advancing the troops into the castle for the re-takeover.

That and there is one bridge that connects all the other bridges, making one straight line into the castle. Can't lose anyone that easily there, unless the person falls off the bridge, but seriously, someone has to make a mighty swing to knock someone off the bridge since it's that awesomely large.

But Kyle's isn't an idiot. He knows he's in Saber's memories, or the world created by the first Kaiser's memories to spiff up the blank realm, so there are some bridges missing. Bridges that would be created waaaaay later.

And since Kaiser Asshole is, well, an asshole, he's not going to make it easy on Kyle and throw in a convenient bridge when he can without lifting a metaphorical finger.

And looking at the long winding path that goes on for miles and miles and miles around the mountain to reach the castle – haha, nope, no way, Kyle does not have the time to walk over all of that.

That's why the dragon swordsman is standing at the edge of one bridge that faces the side of the mountain, spitting in his hands and rubbing them to make them moist. He stretches his wings, gives a few good practice beats, and walks backwards.

With a determined yell, Kyle charges forward and jumps off the edge, wings out to glide him safely towards a rocky ledge that he holds onto like a lifeline. His boots are scampering upwards, trying to steady in place, and when everything's still and Kyle knows for sure he's _not _going to fall, the Novan gives himself a triumphant smile. He hops off the wall, beating his wings.

Flying usually takes too much energy outside of Kaiser Mode that Kyle thinks he could hibernate for the next hundred years just by using his wings. But this isn't real. This isn't really his real body, this isn't a real world, so following that logic he shouldn't be using any real energy. Extremely proud of himself, Kyle pumps his fists in the air, makes a dive and swoops back up. He does what's the closest of a cheery dance with his legs off the ground and glances up, grinning. Heliseum Citadel, here he co -

Kyle lets out a shrill cry, which he would _forever _deny, when the rocky walls of the cliff's sides begin transforming. Pebbles and rocks crumble and leak from newly created cracks, large solid blocks shifting and turning. The castle seems to be rising higher and higher into the sky and the reach more farther than it used to be. The Novan does a similar gesture to jumping back in midair when a giant thorn made out of rock shoots out from the side of the cliff. It could have easily pierced Kyle in half.

The flying swordsman, now a good distance away from the spontaneously temperamental cliff, stares.

"You motherfucker," he breathes in awe because this deserves the worst curses from another dimension. "This is bullshit."

As if Saber Kaiser heard him – and probably did – the sky rumbles. Dark, ominous clouds roll in high in the sky, their edges inching into the moons. The pale moonlights blink and sputter gone like the flames of dying embers.

The world is blanketed by darkness. Then a piercing lightning crackles across the expanse and Kyle does nothing but watches in disbelief as heavy raindrops the size of dragon eyes pour down, each drop pounding down the sensitive membrane of his wings like a ton of bricks. This shouldn't ache as much as it is, but Kyle feels himself losing balance. He's going to fall.

Then another giant thorn shoots out from the wall and Kyle twists in midair, that reflexive maneuver positioning himself perfectly for vertical flight. Mindlessly, he flings himself upward against the storm, relies on his instinct to guide him around every giant thorn that spikes out of the wall. The thought of flying farther away and take a longer route to the castle doesn't come across his mind, his chin is up, his eyes are glowering straight into the heavens belonging to an undeserving god. Heart beating out of the cages of his ribs, crimson wings streaking through the air like a challenge. He's a flying beast reaching higher and higher –

Kyle blinks and screeches into a halt when a flash of white goes through the corner of his eyes. Panting and sweating, the rain splashes warm against his fire hot skin. No more thorns, no more cliffs, Kyle is above the castle now. The roofs of the citadel face him. The sight of the symbol of Nova's capital vulnerable yet majestic all before him takes his breath away.

Another thunder rumbles as if to remind him what the warrior is bothering to do all this anyway. Slowly, Kyle makes his descent to the front gates of Helisium's Citadel.

* * *

He's cold but he doesn't shiver. He's pissed off but he doesn't tremble.

Okay, he takes that back – _he's super freaking pissed off right now to the point of causing an earthquake and break fake Grandis in half. _

But he's not going to show it. He's Kaiser. As the newest Kaiser it is natural he should be tested by Saber. This _has _to be a test because if it's not then why would the guy be leading him to the castle like this while putting him through that kind of crap?

Kyle walks in a determined straight line down the grand white hallways. The royal purple banners wearing the citadel's symbol are there to intimidate him, a pacing reminder that this is the castle with a bitch of a king but Kyle is far from caring about that particular detail right now. He's going to learn where the blazing hells Aiona is even if it means he has to strangle the answer from Kaiser Saber.

There's no one here. Neither guard nor specter is here to stop him from stomping to the throne room to get what he wants.

He knows this part of the castle well. The invasion against Magnus the Traitor will always be imprinted in his memory and Kyle climbs staircase after staircase, down hallways and turn corners to meet the giant doors. Behind them should be the first Kaiser.

Without any hesitation, Kyle shoves the doors open and they swing as dramatically as he wants them to – but they stop and bounce back to him a little as if something is blocking them. Rolling his eyes, Kyle moves sideways through the slit of space made by the doors, back straight and wings tucked in as flat as plates. When he makes it, he breathes out the air he's holding, the rage leaving – which he captures again when he faces yet again another impossible sight once more.

The things blocking the throne doors? Jewels. _Jewels_. There are literally piles of the rarest and strongest jewels everywhere and the only empty space in this ginormous room is the clear trail from the entrance to tallest pile of luxuries ever – almost to the size of a tall hill. He walks on the squeaky clean, white tiles, head moving side to side like a sideways pendulum because, oh Nova, that's a lot of money.

The white pillars are reflecting rainbow lights everywhere that it hurts Kyle's eyes if he tilts his head in a certain angle. Seriously, there are huge chests spilling ancient currency and valuable treasures, chests even drowning into the sea of jewels. Necklaces, pendants, chalices, goblets, even furniture – everything simple and mundane that could easily fetch a billion mesos by converting it into something super shiny are all here. There's so many shinies that the swordsman thinks he can hear them _sparkle_. Also, Kyle thinks he sees a toilet made out of diamonds in a corner, but that's impossible, toilets didn't exist back then did they?

Yeah he's right. Now that Kyle squints, he sees it's not a diamond toilet.

It's a diamond bathtub. It's next to a statue of a female dracanic adorned in the finest of fabrics, which is next to a pedestal that holds a magical glass case containing the flame tendril of a blue star. Said blue star isn't quite that far away from what looks like a moon blossom in a polished vase, which is below a pillar that has a hook where a fancy, elaborate ornamental armor hangs.

Wow.

A wave in a mixture of unconcealed boredom and irritation tickles Kyle's form. The young dragon warrior looks back at the mini mountain of valuables in the far back and sees well cut jewels and coins tumbling down by the sides. They shift and move, and two large wings sprout out on top of the hill. Saber Kaiser erupts from the tip of the hill, few tiny gems falling off the top of dark locks and shoulders. His lower body and tail is still one with the money. The man bends forward to put his chin on the palm of hand, elbows resting on top of pile as if waiting for Kyle to start entertaining him.

Kyle responds in a wry flat voice, "Please don't tell me you used to sleep in that back then."

The expression on the man's face doesn't change. Kyle finally throws his hands in the air and cries, "There's no way you could have gotten all this back then! Each person in the nation can have a pound of this stuff and can be made into an instant billionaire!" And he'd _still_ have enough left over to transform the entire southern portion of Grandis into financial empires. Kyle's not great with economy – that's stuff is for the council people – but come on, that's _a lot _of money. Kyle has to remind himself once or twice that it's not real and there wouldn't be a point in pocketing one or two gems. Or twenty.

Tear would love having all these colorful stones. Kyle can practically see the girl's pure delight if she ever had an immense addition to her rock collection.

The first king of Heliseum gives a small smirk and Kyle can feel it again: receiving another memory. A memory within a world of memories – wow, what did the Maplings called that? Memory-ception? Getting way too meta for Kyle's comfort now.

Even so, Kyle finds himself choking. There's smoke melting the air and churning it into oil that forces itself into his throat like sludge. Automatically Kyle flies up, seeing nothing but smog for a second until he's beating past the layer of black and above. Slightly disoriented, the young Novan rubs the sudden dryness from his eyes and looks down onto the landscape below him.

It's a village. A large, burning village that might as well be one giant funeral pyre. Roofs are falling down on top of ashes, dracanics are running and screaming for dear life. This isn't the kind of fire they're familiar with – the flames are in a raging, ethereal blue and purple. The colors of the hottest stars among all galaxies. Seeing two children fleeing from the blazes, Kyle makes a dive unthinkingly even though they're not real, only to stop when a blast explodes before him. He brings an arm to his face, guarding it, and when he pulls it away the children are nowhere to be found. Did they used to be real?

A roar penetrates the atmosphere. It's a tidal wave of sound, Kyle hears it before the harsh wind of it blows against him. He looks at the distance and he sees it.

A dragon. Vivid leaf green scales and wings so large that they can blow a forest away with a single flap. Its body has bulging muscles laced with long, old scars and long, new lacerations. Blood runs down in rivers all over. Kyle hasn't seen a real dragon in Grandis in his entire life and now he can see why they're revered as gods in this world. All that extraordinary magic and power is bundled into one towering form.

It's blasting fireballs in the speed of the fastest comets at the village – wait, no, it's trying to _aim _at someone…

A small shadow flits through and the dragon stops. It screams and cries, it's taken too much damage and that shadow has inflicted the final blow. It has enough.

The dragon falls forward, its elongated head breaking another burning house at the edge of the village. Purple blue fires devour as the dragon breathes its last. Some of the villagers keep running and never turn back, running among the tall, gnarly trees in the surrounded tropical forest whose branches light up like torches. Some stop, noticing that Grandis has become a little quieter.

The remaining villagers watch as Saber Kaiser, dripping in blood and waving the bits of meat and scales off his bare hands, standing on top of the fallen body of a monstrous god with a self satisfied, absolutely smug smirk.

Kyle watches, confused. So – what? This guy's actually decent? Kinda makes everything Kyle suffered up to this point seem like a test for real. Except from what he's getting from the crowd is a bit different.

The villagers are cheering something. He is their hero, they cry. This powerful stranger has come in time. They never once thought their guardian god would betray them, but it is fine, they have a new protector to -

_Wait, _Kyle blinks, blood running cold._ A guardian dragon?_

_All those jewels…_

Once Kyle is back to the present, back to this strange reality standing before the piles of blood money and an outrageous god, he doesn't breathe. Time is frozen in this world and he is part of that frozen time for one moment. Finally he clenches his fists, the thickness of his gloves the one thing that stops his nails from biting into his palms. A primal growl crawls in his throat and his wings curl in rage.

Blazing blue eyes meet ethereal purple ones before the furious young swordsman charges up the hill of treasures to pummel the cruel god in his own realm. Kyle sees Saber's eyes widen for a split fraction before the man holds his forearm up, the thick armor on it blocking the sword swinging down and hey, what about that, Kyle unknowingly materialized the Kaiserium in the world out of his control. A delicious nasty tinge bleeds into him.

_Perfect._

Kyle is still in midair, using his all to break the man's arm in half. Said man's arm is struggling under the blade, but both of them aren't really budging. They're stuck in a power clash.

Saber's eyes narrow, enhancing his slitted pupils. Like the solemn rings of funeral bells, he tones," You'll be the third wyrmling I'll obliterate."

Kyle's eyes darken. "What?"

The first Kaiser tilts his head as if he's not being killed here, merely going on a lecture because they've got all the fucking time to talk in the clash of death.

"This is the world created by the Kaiser Emblem – _my _emblem. It's a space between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The medium reality in which those marked by my legacy can access. The soul may arrive, but the body stays behind."

_Well that's something I can tell Traian when I get the blazing hell out of here_.

The first Kaiser swings his raised arm, knocking Kyle back. Kyle catches himself and fans out his wings, slowing down and spinning himself to the ground, landing with a bent knee and a sword into the floor.

Just like the people back in the marketplace disappear, the treasures in the throne room vanish. Kyle can finally see the immense white floor, the same floor he stood on when he challenged Magnus the Exile.

Except this time, it is an indifferent, amoral god standing in place of the previous tyrant of Heliseum.

Saber explains," When you die here – " _In your dreams!_ Kyle interjects mentally, openly growling now – "the connection to your body will be cut. Your mind shall shatter and my emblem is free to take onto another worthless possessor."

In short, if Kyle gets his tail chopped he'll be trapped inside this twisted dimension for eternity.

It's horrifying.

But it doesn't matter because that's just how life is and he's still keeping a strong grip on the Kaiserium anyway. He assumes his fighting position and he doesn't move his eyes away from Kaiser Saber once. "Who were the other two 'wyrmlings?'" Not that Kyle will be one of them. He'll take care of all of this. Somehow.

One end of Saber's lips curl into a cruel smirk. He replies in a light, misleading voice as if nostalgic, reminiscing of better days and Kyle stiffens when he hears the innocuous answer filled with terrible implications. It crawls under his skin as if gravel was stuffed into his veins and forced to pump into his heart, clenching it in doubt.

"Though I exist long, I have yet to learn if souls can die. It would explain why I haven't seen the second and third Kaiser since their first visits."

* * *

**A/N**: College is busy but it hasn't stopped me from writing fanfiction. This was supposed to be a immensely long one-shot that I'm breaking into three chapters. The good thing is that it'll be finished much more quickly.

The next chapter should be posted within a week and the final chapter will explain the theories and headcanons I have concerning Kaiser based on what I know from the game (just in case anyone cares).


	2. Chapter 2

**Pyre for the Ancestral Mountain**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

It's sometime between Saber aiming mini tornadoes at him and Kyle flinging fireballs back, which then made a moving flamethrower that tears the tiles off the floor, that Kyle feels the Kaiser Emblem ringing harshly. It's ready for a transformation.

But the majority of this fight the Novan learns that he's been on the defensive against a guy who's not using his all, and after a while Kyle grudgingly admits that transforming isn't going to be enough to change the tides. But what does he have left?

Saber is never going to tire out. He can't tire out, and Kyle knows that if he focuses enough then he wouldn't tire out either. It'll be an infinite battle until one of them gives up and let the other destroy him, but Kyle's not as strong as Saber and Saber likes to take his sweet time.

And Kyle doesn't have any.

Going Kaiser Mode and unleash a fury of counterattacks could take this asshole down a peg. Saber would be too busy playing around, being too damn arrogant to bother following Kyle's thought patterns and Traian taught Kyle one or two tricks that may or may not blast Kyle off this world.

And if it doesn't work - well. What does Kyle have to lose?

Just everything.

As Kyle jumps aside of another well executed swing, to his chagrin, and says," You're such a jackass that you and Magnus can compete in the Greatest Jackass Tournament and be battling for first place." The Novan flips backwards, tucking his wings and making a ball like form, rolling to the far side of the white hall. "But Magnus at least didn't kill guardian dragons. Guess that makes you the winner."

Kyle's arms ache, his forehead is pouring sweat, but he twists around Saber's blade to get in close, swinging his tail around to slam against the man's side. The most Saber's done to react is flinch, so slight that anyone else wouldn't notice it, and Kyle hides his grin under a snarl because against a 'god' that's something. "And at least Magnus didn't fake being evil - you pretended to be a hero!"  
"You spout on of morals when they belong to the strong," Saber replies to which Kyle balefully glares.

The myths weren't just wrong, they misunderstood and history vindicated this guy. The people back then thought their guardian dragon turned against them even though Saber provoked it first. _He _brought on the destruction and Kyle bites his lip, severely disappointed.

"How many other dragons did you kill? How many wars did you cause?" Wars like the ones against Magnus, wars between nations because their guardian dragons were slayed, tearing treaties and leaving countries defenseless against those who had dragons. Fenelle's bedtime stories of them never mentioned of Saber's interference, the priestess probably oblivious.

Saber jumps back a great distance between them. Lazily lolling his head to the side, he says, "Dracanics make their own beliefs and run with it. I never had to say anything."

Kyle takes the time to get his air back and wow isn't that a hoot, trying to breathe in an un-physical body. This shouldn't feel so alive.

"What did they ever do to you?"

"Nothing. Guardian dragons were useless as rusted swords. Obsolete idols."

"So you killed them all!" Oh, how that thought boils him from the inside. How it becomes poisonous bile, rotting everything into bitterness. 'Protector of Dragons' is part of the name of Kaiser!

"Desired to." Saber studies his thin sword momentarily as if it's more interesting to look at than talking to the current Kaiser. "Some of them I slayed. Some of them were slayed before I could, in which I slayed the ones who slayed them in turn."

He actually looks a bit irritated by that fact. "Some quickly learned that the ancient era of instrumentally using dragons as peace objects have died. They flee to parts I cannot reach."

Kyle can easily imagine all the tragedies, all the people who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and it was all because of a cruel murderer who wanted…

Wanted what?

Kyle quietly demands," Why?"

The first Kaiser, the dragon that end dragons, looks at him as if it's the dumbest question in the world before lunging back.

Kyle hisses, dodging the attacks overall but he can feel that sharp wind slicing him, laying shallow cuts all over his body before he jumps into the air, wings spread out to speed out of the area. He lands both feet on a pillar and boosts out, trying to aim for that black blur until it leaves him again, feeling two feet planted onto his back and stomping him to the floor like a flatten bug.

Heart beating out of his chest, Kyle twists beneath the legs before a thin blade pierces where his heart should be, cracks on the floor spiderwebbing from the penetrated spot. The man stumbles above him and Kyle grips onto the Kaiserium tight, takes a swing but at nothing. Saber is already flying off, free of any wound, and Kyle bites his lip, charging into the man and encountering another power clash, this time with blades. They share blows, each harsh meeting of metal result bursts of flames. Every single time Kyle thinks he finds a blind spot, an opening, Saber's thin blade meets him, Saber's blue flames engulfing his yellow red slashes.

The current Kaiser versus the first Kaiser. An epic battle of all epic battles. Kyle can barely believe it.

Before the trip to the emblem realm, Kyle would never imagine anything like this could happen. If someone told him it was possible to meet previous Kaisers before, he would fantasize it could be like a distant family reunion. Oh hey, a Kaiser? And another Kaiser? Freaking awesome – how about they all go to some made up bar in weird limbo and tell Kyle all the cool legends they lived through? Tell them some stories to pass on to Cartalion since the commander chief knight loved tales. And hey maybe they can go have a spar. Give Kyle a few tips and tricks that could impress Piston and the other chief knights.

_Nothing like this_, Kyle thinks, anger and disappointment and something akin to betrayal mixing it all into one terrible concoction of emotions as he drops low, dipping beneath the mid air combat to meet the ground. Quickly, he sprints across the floor, dragging Kaiserium and tearing through the tiles in a rush of _Piercing Blaze_, pushing the flames more than he usually would so they can lick the ceiling. But Saber's not that affected – the fire isn't hot enough – and Kyle speedily withdraws his sword to parry the first Kaiser's encountering swing. Saber's sword is so fast it's unreal, and they're both back onto the floor again, Kyle make a quick but awkward sidestep that causes his ankles tangle in a bind.

Not bothering to wait for his wing to get sliced off before righting himself up, Kyle summons an extension of Kaiserium into the _Vertical Grapple _and rockets up to the sky, twisting his wings at the right angle to avoid a few life-ending attacks from Saber. Kyle can't let his guard down even once – what sucks the most is that his 'Kaiser instincts' don't do anything against this guy. The emblem accepts Saber as safe so it doesn't go off like an alarm like it should when Kyle's neck is in the line.

Speaking of letting guards down, the fight has gone on long enough for Kyle to know that the man is toying with him. If Saber wants to, he can have this entire world engulf Kyle whole and drag him to the abyss of his own mind forever, but so far it's a relatively equal fight. Bastard must have been seriously bored or something. Both opponents got blades, though Saber doesn't have anything fancy like the Kaiserium. Just has a simple, slightly blunted sword that could pass off as one of the first swords in Grandis, ever.

Maybe that's why Saber's swings are so fast and fluid, blade light enough to use with one hand when it's clear that he has no training at all. Kyle used to watch the Pantheon Knights practice sword fighting and Saber has none of that discipline.

Doesn't mean he sucks at it. It just means Saber doesn't follow the textbook examples of sword fighting, making Kyle's job of teaching this guy a lesson much more harder.

Not to mention the dark haired dracanic isn't tense at all: shoulders relaxed, hands soft and swinging the blade in a circular motion like a toy. He's clearly underestimating Kyle. As much as that pisses Kyle off to no freaking end, he needs to exploit it.

Kyle raises a hand up, not sure it'll work, and nearly crows when the summoning work: a molten dragon armored in stone erupts from the other side of the hall. Off guarded, Saber turns around, and snarls when the stationary dragon stretches its neck from the ground, great maws taking a good chomp of his dark wing. The stone dragon struggles to force Saber to follow gravity, but Saber raises a sword –

_Inferno Breath_! Kyle commands and the stone dragon sheds its gritty scales, revealing its spirit in a form of a sea of flames beginning from its throat. As Saber is overwhelmed, practically wrapped in a barrier of flames that hides him, Kyle raises his two-handed sword over his head, poised straight into the air. Kaiserium glows and makes copies of itself, each solid clone levitating side by side and ready to tear.

Quickly, the cyan haired warrior flies above the sphere of fire where there is a small opening: the eye of the red hurricane. Saber is wrapping his own great wings around him like a shield, freakishly similar to what Magnus did before the tyrant unleashed power streams of black energy.

The young swordsman aims the tip of his sword at Saber. _Tempest Blades _shoot down at Saber's curled form right before the inferno closes up. Crackling red and yellow tendrils block Kyle's view of the final attack.

The warrior had one second to notice that something is wrong, another second to bring his own crimson wings to shield him, and another second to forcibly relax his body to the impact when Saber creates a sonic wave that blasts Kyle all the way to the large gates of the empty throne room.

The cyan haired swordsman groans as his back slides down the humongous doors, upper torso peeling off to fall forward, face flat on the ground. Kyle coughs and rubs his face. He can hear metal boots clicking against the tiles towards him and the current Kaiser looks up from all fours. He hates how it seems like he's bowing before this damned god.

Purple eyes empty of emotion, the owner of them grabs Kyle by his hair and lifts him up. A yelp leaves the younger dracanic, his exhausted hands persisting, reaching up to claw into Saber's armored arm. The Kaiser Emblem has reached its limit – Kyle can transform right now, _has _to transform. Saber is going to rip his soul into pieces.

But...the emblem isn't responding.

It's like those Mapling horror movies where the protagonist is pressing the button to the elevator to shut before the monster rampages in even though it's not going to help him. The emblem isn't going to obey him – brimming with energy and will provide everything but Kaiser Mode.

_Because it won't let him turn against another Kaiser. _

It's as if a tsunami of fear and anxiety crashes onto him. Kyle is gradually drowning, arms frantically reaching up for the surface while the light leaves him, his body tugged towards to the dark depths because that's really all he has been doing, isn't he? Trying to delay the inevitable. What was he thinking - _of course _he can't face off against an ancient god. _Of course _he can't fight against the first Kaiser, who understands the bizarre, sacred magic that is the Kaiser Emblem and all its secrets more than Kyle would ever know.

And of course Kyle can't save Grandis from the self-destructive Transcendent with powers to warp two realities. Because he's a kid. Just a fucking kid with the responsibility of a god deigned to him because fate decided to want a good laugh.

The numbness is finally reaching him. It's rendering his limbs useless like the effects of a tranquilizer taking place, each degree of time just putting down a whole new layer of cement upon his throbbing heart until it becomes a block of stone.

_Is this it? Is this really it? _

It can't be, he thinks. He has to go back. He needs to return and tell someone that they need to find another way. They need to find Aiona and fight back against Darmoa. _The war has to end with him. Even if he dies and reincarnates, his next life won't have enough time to grow and become stronger because by then the world won't be –_

Saber Kaiser begins glowing in an ominous red color right before Kyle sees white.

* * *

"Is that all you got?"

Kyle opens his eyes only to close them again. It's bright. It's really bright. Oh no, this is what the other knights once talked about – that white flash before one dies isn't it? He's _dying_.

"Guess it shows that the Kaiser is a joke after all. 'Grand Defender Savior of Nova, Protector of Dragons.' Yeah right."

Kyle keeps his eyes closed. He's heard this before. Heard it once awake, heard it a thousand times asleep. This isn't any different. And damn it, Saber's going to make him go through another nightmare before crushing his spirit into dust.

"The previous Kaiser had the powers of a god and he still fell like a mortal. To poison of all things."

Kyle opens his mouth to argue for the thousandth time only to be cut off by Velderoth's voice again.

"And you're supposed to have the same powers. But like the previous Kaiser, you're going to fall too."

Kyle returns," But I didn't." And that's the worse part about this memory. Because in real life Kyle kept on fighting against his former best friend until Velderoth vanished again. Back to Darmoa, which is arguably worse than Magnus.

Magnus taught his pupil well. To betray and abandon.

Kyle slowly opens his eyes, expecting to see Velderoth's blade by his neck like nightmares before. Instead, Kyle sees a younger Velderoth. A Velderoth with violet and green wings and golden eyes bright, hopeful, and nothing like the dull, cold eyes that Kyle saw the last time. Kyle feels a lump growing in his throat and swallows.

The memory of his former best friend turns around and runs towards Kyle's younger self and Tear, all of their swords – training swords that they begged Cartalion to give them - raised in the air in their old, stupid and silly victory cheer before they run off to another adventure, fading into the whiteness of the blank landscape.

It used to be so simple.

"You don't smile anymore."

Kyle turns around to see Tear, his initial surprise slowing giving away to a sinking feeling. This is the first time he sees Tear like this.

The girl pushes a curl of her long auburn hair behind her ear. Her spring green eyes look down at her feet. Doesn't want to see Kyle eye to eye.

"You loved fighting. But I guess war changes everyone."

"I was being an idiot," Kyle chuckles bitterly. Nova, he knows which direction this is going to turn and it's not pretty. "Fighting used to be fun and all, but the war…it made it not fun." The understatement of the century. Because war no longer means a test of character or an opportunity to have one's name passed down in the history books as a hero. It doesn't mean glory. It means leaving friends, dying friends, and then no friends because he's Kaiser. He's Kaiser and everyone else is…not. And they can't keep up.

The tailless girl looks up, green eyes watering, hurt. "You became Kaiser. And then you stopped seeing me."

Indignation and guilt builds. Kyle whispers," I tried. You know I tried." But one thing after another comes up. He lost to Magnus. He went to Maple World to find a Transcendent. He had to return to lead an invasion, had to march forward to the northern front to see the damage Darmoa made. It's mission after mission and he's Kaiser and Tear's a girl without magic. A girl who can't protect herself so Kaiser has to be there to end the war because that's the best and foolproof plan to keep the people he loves safe forever.

"LIAR!"

Kyle flinches. Tear's soft face is twisted in fury, lips thinned into a tight sneer. She takes a step backwards, head shaking back and forth.

"Face it, you were just too busy to care. I only mattered when it did."

Kyle doesn't know what to say. Even if he did, is he in any position to say anything to devil's advocate Tear? He is, he should, he should be yelling back that she's always in his thought, but she's right and excuses can't chip down the block of cold rock that is the truth. What's the point in making a pretty little lie to himself? He _was _too busy, wasn't he? That's what wars do; they take up the entire mind and Kyle's simple enough to be one of them even though he's the leader, the ace, except that's not what he is. He's just Kyle: a kid who lost the two friends who mattered.

Tear's feet are positioned to walk away. "It wasn't enough."

It's a fear come true. Kyle reaches out to grab Tear's shoulder only for the girl to fade to dust under his hand. Because if his friends aren't leaving on their own then he's forcing them to be gone and Kyle squeezes his eyes shut.

"Looks like we're all doomed." A sigh that shudders into a raspy, hollow voice. "So long. It's been so long. Now it's going to end."

Another voice, female and light. Mature, calm, yet resigned. "Every move meticulously calculated to save enough time to find the aid necessary to stand equal against Darmoa. Every move that sacrificed lives now useless." The voice becomes angry and loathing. "To face a demented god with the powers of time and life was a hopeless endeavor. Fools. All of us."

"When we took Magnus down, I thought we had a chance. If I knew it was going to end this way, I would have just gone to a bar and find myself a girl. Party till the end of time."

Kyle whispers, amused and tired. "Come on Piston. Everyone knows you like Edea." Not that it matters if everyone's going to die.

The ignored swordsman turns around again to see Cartalion, Edea and Piston. The three adults aren't looking at him. They're looking at each other as if having a private conversation that Kyle isn't suppose to witness. All three of them have grave faces. Ha ha, how absolutely fucking hilarious.

Edea clicks her tongue disapprovingly, though the scolding that leaves her lips is half-hearted. Tone unconcerned, belying the care underneath. "Hedonism doesn't suit you."

"Know a better way to kill time?" Piston asks, scratching the back of his pale blonde hair.

Kyle swallows the lump in his throat. He used to imagine the worst like this to motivate him why he had to win in battle. Seeing it played out like a tragic theater before him makes it worse. It's like glancing down into a crystal ball and seeing the future.

Fenelle slowly appears. Her draping white robes follow her like long, dragging angel wings as she approaches to the knights and strategist. The high priestess smiles amiably.

The three adults nod and fade away.

Fenelle, unlike the older dracanics, look straight at Kyle. The woman Kyle would call his grandmother shakes her head in disappointment. "Why?" she asks as Kyle's heart drops and breaks in sorrow. She's asking the reason of his failure and it's the stupidest thing ever. Kyle was unlucky and met the wrong guy for help. "Why?"

"You know why."

_What?_

Stunned, Kyle whips around because it's Magnus this time. It takes a moment for Kyle to realize that the defeated former tyrant is looking past him and straight at Fenelle. Kaiser is being ignored.

Magnus cackles but it's not the usual annoying evil laugh. It's _that_ laugh, that one last broken laugh Kyle heard when Helisium Citadel was successfully conquered and Magnus was cornered once and for all. One that will be forever engraved in Kyle's memories.

The black haired exile goes quiet before glowering straight and Kyle shivers at the pure loathing - whether it's Magnus himself or the world - in those piercing yellow eyes. "I need to take the gamble. If coming back to the Pantheon taught me anything, it's that nothing's going to change. Darmoa's insane, but if he has the same idea as _him…" _Magnus trails off, the last part wasn't meant to be spoken aloud. Then he raises a sword, a different sword – probably the one he had before he stole the Kaiserium. He grins maliciously as Kyle always remembered.

"Now. You're going to choose Kaiser like you're supposed to. If you want him to have a chance of survival, you'll tell him nothing and let him fight to his fullest. Don't weigh that naïve idiot with useless sentiments."

Magnus shows his black wings to Fenelle, and Kyle, and disappears. Kaiser Traian appears next to Fenelle shortly afterwards. Then it dawns to Kyle that this isn't his memory or his fear or any of the goddamn dark thoughts he held before. This is the previous Kaiser's memory.

Traian's face is stock still like a statue. Though he puts a comforting hand on Fenelle's shoulder, his ice blue eyes stare at the end of the world. "I heard it all. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

The previous Kaiser's hair isn't as red as Kyle sees in the Kaiser Emblem. It's stark white and Kyle has the inkling that it's from intense stress rather than age. The number of rings on Traian's curled horns confirms so.

"I won't let him know. It's for the best." Traian puts on the Kaivesurnet, clicking the scarlet helmet into place. "Praise Saber if we die together."

Kaiser Traian marches forward and goes through Kyle, disappearing along with Fenelle. Kyle grasps his chest, feeling a pain that doesn't belong to him but does. There was more to the tyrant, to Darmoa's proxy that he realized and wow, how fucking shallow can Kyle be? 'Power.' Another sad joke. Kyle should have thought about it more, why Magnus and Velderoth went to Darmoa when it's as clear as day that having power from a guy who's planning to destroy everything would even matter. It's another dumb excuse, everything is a dumb excuse or a pretty little lie to cover up what really is the problem. There's no way out of the apocalypse and the two traitors, thought insane by everyone are probably the sanest ones around.

And there's not even a solution to the problem.

Watching this is like another reminder why it's pointless to keep going.

This is too much. This is way too much. Saber Kaiser is supposed to end him but hammering the nails to the casket takes longer than Kyle thought.

"You're supposed to be the hero."

Kyle doesn't turn around because she's walking into his view, facing him all the same.

Angelic Buster crosses her arms. Her strange purple weapon shaped in a dragon's head is tapping against her arm but not out of impatience. Her sapphire blue eyes reveal nothing. She is simply watching Kyle.

"I'm an accident," she says, gentle and melodious. "But you were born for this."

Kyle twitches an eye. Confusion bleeds through the thick deadness inside him. He fought side by side with the pink haired heroine, but they didn't talk much even though Kyle wanted to know her. Someone who knows what he's going through to hang out with after a tough battle ends. But the mysterious celebrity always disappears before Kyle can seek her out. Probably has real friends and family to see in her spare time. It almost makes Kyle envious.

But really the swordsman knows nothing more than her name. He isn't supposed to know anything else of Angelic Buster for her to be here talking to him. Hell, he hasn't even seen Kylan, Beldar, or anyone else in the Council and he knows them more than the magical singer. Which makes sense now that he thinks about it because where were they when the knights reached Animas?

For some reason that irritates Kyle. It makes him sneer and demand," What are you doing here?" It's pointless to ask; this is Saber's last mocking before Kyle goes off like a pathetic spark under a rainstorm.

Angelic Buster tilts her head, large eyes curious. "You're giving up? You're just…" her presses her lips tight as if trying to get the right word. "Accepting it?"

She doesn't sound judging at all. And yet that somehow makes Kyle feel so much worse.

It makes it sound like the truth.

_Because it is_, Kyle thinks, eyes widening. He's accepting his…death? He is, isn't he?

"Oh. So you are." She smiles and it's so weird at how genuine it is. "I don't blame you. It's been hard. Real hard."

Try super fucking hard. Thousands of thousand - yard stares all towards him because he's supposed to be the beacon of hope. The new Defender Savior of Nova, the one city that Darmoa can't seem to penetrate because of the Protective Shield, which flashes on and off because even _that _can't stay steady for the rest of them.

_But -_

"Even though no one else is going to understand, I will." Because she's been fighting at the front lines like him, fighting and cheering and singing and being so happy and how does she do it? How does she manage to play around and enjoy the stupid things of life when all it takes is a bad fall, a snap of the neck, or burning oneself on a stake in a religious pyre as a last, crazed, desperate plea to the gods? Kyle doesn't even remember the suicidal knight's name anymore. "I'll understand. It is hard."

She lifts up a graceful gloved hand and waves. "Bye Kaiser. And don't worry. I'll take care of everyone when you're gone. You don't need to be the responsible one anymore."

"W-what?" Kyle says dumbly, not expecting that at all. Something's weird. Something's not right. It's like she just said a huge joke and Kyle missed the punchline. Is he supposed to be getting something here, or what?

"I'll watch over Nova like always." _Like always?_ "Be its adorable, magical girl celebrity and light its way!" _Light. Light, light, light._ "I have to now that Kaiser is gone."

With that said she turns away, walking, and Kyle's eyes widen.

"NO!" Kaiser Kyle booms, rumbling the white world between the spirit realm and nothingness. The flame once extinguished has come back. "I WON'T LEAVE! I WILL NOT FALL!"

He runs toward Angelic Buster and grabs her shoulder, this time tangible and he turns her around. The pink haired girl looks at him in surprise and Kaiser shouts, "I'm not going to let it end here! By the time the next Kaiser reincarnates, Darmoa would master the power of time and it'll be too late! Aiona is only one Transcendent – it won't be enough by then!"

"You don't need to work so hard anymore. I'll take care of it. I'll find Aiona."

Kyle lets go of Angelic Buster's shoulders to materialize Kaiserium. The air swirls and bends. The whiteness melts like lava from the brim of an overflowing volcano.

Angelic Buster's eyes are wide in shock as she slowly looks down where Kyle's two-handed sword is piercing through her stomach. The niggling, stressful energy inside Kyle's mind leaves, making it clearer and just one person instead of two.

Blazing blue eyes shining in renewed spirit, Kyle tones, "Nice try, Saber. But after I beat your sorry ass, I'll get out of here and find Aiona myself." The cyan haired warrior taps into the ancient dragon powers inside him and pushes it, demanding it to obey _him. _One more fight, just one more fight for him to use his all.

If he can't equal to a god, then he can accept that he's not worthy to face a fallen Transcendent.

Angelic Buster's surprised features slowly school down into an amused grin. Slowly the white world above transforms into the dark clouded sky and the ground below Kyle is what he recognizes as the rooftops of Heliseum. It begins raining but this time the drops are soft.

Angelic Buster puts a hand on Kaiserium's blade, pulling it in deeper to Kyle's shock. The girl slowly morphs taller and wider. In place of the pink haired heroine is Saber Kaiser, brilliant purple eyes glinting in what seems to be approval. Using the blade, Saber pulls Kyle close enough for the young warrior to hear the man say, "Try."

* * *

Saber has a literal bleeding hole in his stomach that the man doesn't bother healing or ignoring it since it's not a big deal. Most likely the latter since the man makes the first strike, speed unimpeded by his wound that Kyle successfully dances around. Saber is getting faster and faster, a thousand sword strikes that Kyle doesn't block but dodges. The cyan haired warrior is letting time pass.

New strategy: no rushing. Kyle's not going to speed anything up. Even if this isn't an official test, a fancy fighting ritual among Kaisers or whatnot, it's _his _test. The warrior focuses on buffs, feeling each shield of ancient magic lying above his skin like extra armor, making him faster, stronger, and sturdier. Kyle missteps and Saber's blade licks his cheek, a shallow cut that should have been deeper and more painful if it weren't for the previous preparations.

Immediately after conducting the final buff, Kyle halts dodging Saber's close range attacks and holds Kaiserium upside down like a makeshift shield. Saber's blade clashes against it, and as it rings, Kyle forces the long shredded head of his two handed sword into the citadel's high rooftop, the impact relieving a burst of red and yellow heat. Saber responds with slicing the flames with his own blue fire to which Kyle instantly turns and raises his wings, smoke sizzling from the boy's crimson scales.

The battlefield is saturated black until the rain platters the smoke, the grey fog dancing around the two fighters' feet. The tapping of the raindrops fills in the silence between the two warriors.

_Come on, _Kyle speaks to the Kaiser Emblem. He feels it purr and croon and its power vibrates around him. When Saber narrows his purple eyes, Kyle blinks, the boy noticing the slight fluctuations in the foundation of the realm. The rain is changing courses and the air seems to waver.

The emblem is intrigued.

Saber pushes out his hand flat up, magic swirling and gathering before being consecutively released in a form not unlike shooting stars. Kyle manages to block against every single one of them like a dancer hitting all the right beats – swift and strong and keeping up the fast pace rhythm. But inside he's urging the emblem to sway towards his favor.

_You don't listen to him anymore!_

The emblem has lost interest for annoyance, rumbling like the live, magical thing it is but Kyle isn't afraid of it.

_No, I get it. But you chose me for a reason! You chose me to own up to you._

Kyle snaps his wings open to soar into the sky, far enough to get a few precious seconds to focus all his will into the emblem.

_But that means I own you too! You may be his, but you're mine! You're mine so listen to me!_

Kyle imagines seeing the emblem before him, the red insignia of a dragon's head, and grabbing it by its large curled horns, staring it fearlessly.

_Damn you! If I'm going to be the hero of Grandis, then transform me into a god!_

The emblem roars, not giving in, revealing its stubborn side to Kyle for once. But Kyle isn't deterred and doesn't move an inch, not even when he sees Saber speeding through the air. Kyle is completely focused.

Kyle snarls, head thrown back and body tensed. He's stabbing into the emblem, hands grabbing and tearing and shaking the ancient power because he's not just Kaiser. He's Kyle and he may be a kid but he's a selfish kid and _he will get what he wants_.

Spirit heating up into temperatures that would fry the body alive in a reality that makes more sense, Kyle writhes, remembers the previous Kaiser who self-destructed to take out the specters and burns up, following with reckless abandon eagerly.

Furious, he raises Kaiserium to his own neck, the blade kissing his throat. He screams to the sky, to the adamant ancient power with all the force he can muster. "IF YOU DON'T, I'LL BURN MY OWN SPIRIT AND THIS REALITY! _I WILL BE THE FINAL KAISER THIS DIMENSION WILL EVER HAVE!_"

From his peripheral vision, Kyle sees Saber still in midair from shock, sword falling to the man's side and eyes widened to a ridiculous degree.

The emblem seems to be the same. It becomes unresponsive, reflecting Saber's surprise. The emblem has never had to worry about its mortality because in a sense it _is _immortal; it's the personification of the dragon gods' powers. Simple enough to be nothing more than what it is, complex enough to decide who is worthy to wield it.

And seemingly complex enough to realize that it _is _vulnerable to be crushed from the inside out.

* * *

Whenever he transforms Kyle feels euphoric. All this power and magic gathering and culminating in one frail form, making him more than what he is. He feels he can do anything.

He doesn't feel Kyle anymore.

But the blinding light of the transformation fades away as well as the initial internal explosion. The energy hardens into physical armor like a second layer of scales. Kaiserium feels light enough to be held in one hand and his wings have grown as long to his height.

The lingering energy pulses through him and Kyle's eyes gaze over to Saber. It's probably an emblem thing, that Kyle can notice the subtle nuances in the aura, those tiny thoughts and emotions that would flit by him before now. Thoughts and emotions that don't belong to him.

_No. I am Kyle. _

Saber is really the god he's worshipped to be: he's all cool and calm because this is his territory. This is still his mountain, his battleground, and he hasn't even shown everything yet. Still got a major ace up in his sleeve. Kyle just has to force it. And the thing is Kyle isn't wary at all. He's looking forward to it.

And Saber seems to be too. The first Kaiser gives a slow, lazy grin, all teeth. The first real expression Kyle has seen yet.

The Defender Savior of Nova raises Kaiserium and points it at the ancient god.

_I am Kyle. _

* * *

**A/N: **Don't know when the next update will come. Hopefully I can get it through by the end of the month - that and Gnossienne's next chapter.

Thanks for reading.


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